This invention relates to a postmix carbonated beverage dispenser and in particular to a method and apparatus for dispensing plain water from such dispensers.
Beverage dispensers are commercially available from a number of sources. One beverage dispenser is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,960 to Kendt, et al. which is incorporated herein by reference.
Carbonated beverages are sold in restaurants, snack shops, amusement parks, fast food outlets, and other establishments throughout the world. Many of these beverages are mixed and dispensed in postmix beverage dispensers. Generally, a postmix beverage dispenser is provided with a plurality of flavoring syrups and carbonated water which are chilled, mixed and dispensed into a cup or glass. Postmix beverage dispensers generally comprise at least one soda tube carrying carbonated water (sometimes referred to as soda) to a soda manifold which supplies a number of additional soda tubes leading to dispensing valves. A plurality of syrup tubes carry flavoring syrup from sources of syrup through tubes into dispensing valves. The syrup and soda tubes are normally chilled and portions of the tubes are embedded in a body of insulation to maintain the low temperature of the soda and syrup after it has been chilled. The downstream ends of the soda and syrup tubes are usually restrained in a mounting plate which positions the tubes appropriately and provides a convenient place to mount the beverage dispensing valves. Each beverage dispensing valve engages an adjacent pair of tubes, one carrying soda and one carrying flavoring syrup. Generally, the inlets to the dispensing valves are standardized on one of a small number of configurations. The spacing between the soda and the syrup tube is precisely set. The diameter and configuration of the fitting at the end of the syrup and soda tubes are also closely specified. Fittings generally have O-rings upon them providing leakproof engagement with recesses in the beverage dispensing valve. The spacing between adjacent pairs of tubes is also specified so that a beverage dispenser may carry the maximum number of standard size dispensing valves in a given area.
Beverage dispensers and beverage dispensing valves are commercially available from a variety of sources. The beverage dispensing valve of one manufacturer can normally be applied to the beverage dispenser of a different manufacturer following the same standard. The beverage dispensing valve of a first manufacturer can be removed from the beverage dispenser and the beverage dispensing valve of a second manufacturer put in its place with no modification to the beverage dispenser. The syrup and soda tube placement and fitting requirements of both valves are identical.
This industry wide arrangement has proven convenient in many respects. A restaurant operator can install a beverage dispenser and put dispensing valves as desired on the dispenser to provide various flavors of beverages such as cola, orange, lemon-lime, and the like. Should the restaurant operator decide to change the mix of flavors, he need only connect a different syrup reservoir to a given syrup tube and change the label or the beverage dispensing valve on the other end of that syrup tube. The beverage dispenser need not be altered. This is important because the beverage dispensers are complex devices which cannot be conveniently altered in the field.
Beverage dispensers usually include a chiller. The chiller can take the form of an ice bank mechanical refrigeration unit in which soda and syrup tubes are maintained in a bath of cold water chilled by tubes forming part of a refrigeration unit. An "ice bank" normally forms around the tubes in the bath. Alternatively, the chiller can be an aluminum cold plate in which syrup and soda tubes are embedded and to which a body of ice is applied. In either case, the syrup and soda tubes exiting the chiller are maintained in a body of insulation which is usually foamed in place insulation. The ends of the soda and syrup tubes which will engage beverage dispensing valves are maintained in place by a mounting plate. Once such a structure is manufactured, it is virtually impossible to modify the syrup and soda tubes without seriously degrading the insulated nature of the beverage dispenser itself. These units provide flexibility in the provisioning of carbonated beverages. However, providing plain water through a such a beverage dispenser is difficult. One must either put a plain water dispensing station in the beverage dispenser when manufactured or forego plain water dispensing. If one puts a plain water dispensing station in the beverage dispenser, one foregoes one of the available carbonated beverage dispensing stations. This is not an option desired by most restaurant operators as a permanent solution.
This dilemma and other problems are overcome by the present invention wherein a postmix beverage dispenser is adapted to provide either a carbonated beverage or plain water as selected by the restaurant operator through any of the stations or positions in the beverage dispenser.